Text Messages and Intricacy

I found a cell phone in a toilet booth. Before handing it to the lost and Found office, the phone vibrated; a new message was received Then I did something I knew I shouldn't--I glimpsed through all the text messages in the inbox.

There were embarrassed messages from an admirer, sweet, angry and frustrated messages from a man and several loving and sad ones from her mother:
"You are the brightest and most beautiful woman I have ever met." "Did I ruin you by sharing my bed with you, wanting to marry you? Did I ruin your life by waiting for you while you travel and work around the globe?" "I did not want to become a scum in the eye of the woman I love." "Grandpa is okay now. Grandma asked him to forgive her. I cried." "I love you, sweetheart. Mom."

I could imagine myself being her, reading the texts with heartstrings pulled.

I spiraled into another woman's life--a woman who might be enrolled in the Graduate School of Public and International affairs ( I found the phone in that very academic building), a woman who I might have met before, a woman who I might have dismissed forgetfully even if I happened to see her.

It strikes me that how often do we fail to notice that everyone of us has a complex story that is so personal and heartwarming. If we read through all our correspondences with others, especially the significant ones, what will we notice? Anger laced with love, empathy embedded in words, or love and care undiscovered?